It's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell vs. hardliners in the White House as lawmakers pursue a deal on federal spending and the debt. And the hardliners, wary of further increases to federal spending, appear to be losing.
Talks between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appear to be progressing. Mnuchin on Monday told reporters, "I think we're very close to a deal," though he cautioned that "these deals are complicated."
Mnuchin says increasing the $22 trillion debt limit needs to be done this month to avert any risk of a U.S. default on obligations like bond payments. He said he doesn't think there will be a government shutdown when the budget year ends Sept. 30, nor does he think "either party or anybody wants to put the credit of the United States government at risk."
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaks during a news briefing at the White House, in Washington, Monday, July 15, 2019. (AP PhotoCarolyn Kaster)
Previous negotiations toward a budget deal had included White House conservatives like Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. But Mnuchin is taking the lead for the administration in the talks with Pelosi, as the speaker doesn't have a productive relationship with Mulvaney.
Mnuchin and Pelosi were slated to talk again later Monday, according to a Pelosi spokesman.
The talks increasingly hinge on a durable, powerful and familiar political coalition: GOP defense hawks demanding bigger Pentagon budgets and Democrats seeking equal treatment for domestic priorities.
Three previous fiscal deals over the past years, conducted when Democrats were in the House minority, were greased by lawmakers' appetite for both guns and butter — to the dismay of deficit hawks relegated to Washington's endangered species list. Now, after winning back the House, Pelosi has greater leverage, especially because of the need to increase the government's borrowing cap.
"We gave them an obscene amount of money just two years ago," said Hazen Marshall, a former Senate GOP budget and leadership aide. "And now they want more on top of that. There's a never-ending desire to keep on ramping it up."
Lawmakers are negotiating an increase to spending "caps" for federal agency budgets, along with separate must-do legislation to increase the government's debt limit. The negotiations are opaque, but appear to be guided by the concept of "parity" in spending increases for defense and nondefense agency budgets, based on a public exchange of letters between Mnuchin and Pelosi over the past few days.
The duo of Pelosi, D-Calif., and McConnell, R-Ky., is a partnership of necessity. The two have a chilly but professional relationship and their interests rarely align. But when they team up — as they did on a government spending deal in February — they are virtually unstoppable. Both have long histories with Capitol Hill's appropriations process, the painstakingly bipartisan and pragmatic job of annually divvying up the one-third of the federal budget allocated by Congress each year.
Pelosi's mandate is to increase, as much as possible, the portion of the federal pie going to Democratic priorities such as health care, education, housing and the environment.
McConnell played a key behind-the-scenes role in setting up the negotiations and has encouraged Mnuchin's central role. He wants a deal that would satisfy his defense hawks and his pragmatic-minded power base on the Appropriations Committee. He also knows that the path to a successful deal goes through Pelosi and is likely to include more money than Mulvaney, a former tea party lawmaker, would like.
The alternatives to a deal are distasteful to both sides, and include freezing spending at current levels and operating most of the government essentially on autopilot under a measure known as a continuing resolution. That prospect, talked up behind the scenes by Mulvaney and his allies, is alarming to GOP lawmakers focused on Pentagon policy, who say it would harm military readiness, hurt efforts to relieve procurement shortfalls and scramble long-term Pentagon budget strategies.
The negotiations are closely held but a key concern for Pelosi is getting $22 billion over the next two years to cover the rapidly-growing cost of privately-provided veterans health care. She sent a letter to Mnuchin on Saturday night agreeing with his request to increase the debt limit but pushing for relief for the Veterans Administration's private health care program, which threatens to squeeze other domestic priorities.
"I wanted to put in writing what our concern was," Pelosi said Monday. "We have an additional initiative that was added, but you can't just take it out of other veterans programs or other programs."
Republicans say those VA costs should be absorbed inside the $600 billion set aside for nondefense agencies.
Pelosi appears to be dropping another demand, a $7 billion carve-out to pay for the U.S. Census.
PHOENIX (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jake Cronenworth hit back-to-back homers, Dylan Cease pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and the San Diego Padres won their third game in a row, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1 on Friday night.
Manny Machado hit a two-run homer. Cronenworth finished with three extra-base hits, adding two doubles.
The Padres had a big offensive game on the same night they learned they might be adding another good hitter. San Diego is close to acquiring two-time batting champion Luis Arráez in a deal with the Marlins.
“I think it's great — you're always looking for more offense and a left-handed bat to balance out the lineup,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “But listen, nothing's official. We'll leave it at that.”
The Diamondbacks have lost 10 straight series openers after beating the Colorado Rockies on opening day.
D-backs pitcher Slade Cecconi (1-2) retired the first nine batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Jurickson Profar walked to start the inning and Tatis launched a shot to left-center — his seventh homer of the season.
Cronenworth followed with another homer to make it 3-0 and rookie Jackson Merrill broke an 0-for-20 stretch at the plate with a one-out RBI double for a 4-0 lead.
Cronenworth had a down 2023 season, but has looked much more like the hitter who was an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 through the first month of this season. He's batting .279 with six homers and 25 RBIs.
It was Cronenworth’s second straight game with a homer. He hit a grand slam in the team’s 6-2 victory over the Reds on Wednesday.
“It's the right approach with the right swing,” Shildt said. “He's married both. He's driving the ball to all different parts of the field and not trying to do to much.”
Cecconi didn't make it out of the fifth, giving up six runs over 4 1/3 innings.
The Padres' three-homer outburst provided plenty of support for Cease (4-2), the hard-throwing right-hander who gave up just one run on three hits while striking out eight. He didn't allow a walk.
“I think my fastball command was a lot better, which is really a lot of the battle,” Cease said. “When I'm getting my fastball where it needs to go, it opens up a lot of stuff.”
Machado made it 7-0 in the fifth with a two-run homer to left center off reliever Matt Bowman. The scorched line drive came off Machado's bat at 111.7 mph.
The sliding D-backs — defending National League champions — have lost 10 of their past 15 games and fell to 14-19 for the season.
“We got beat tonight,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "We got out-managed, we got out-pitched, we got out-hit, we got out-coached. We've got to find a way to get the job done and play our type of baseball. That's the bottom line.
“We're grinding away. We're trying.”
Arizona finished with just three hits. Eugenio Suárez had an RBI single in the fifth.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Lovullo told reporters that closer Paul Sewald (oblique) and OF Alex Thomas (hamstring) could return to the active roster as soon as Tuesday against the Reds.
UP NEXT
The D-backs will throw RHP Brandon Pfaadt (1-1, 4.63 ERA) while the Padres will counter with RHP Michael King (2-3, 5.00 ERA) on Saturday night.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, left, celebrates his double as San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, front right, of South Korea, and umpire Phil Cuzzi (10) look for the baseball during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt watches the action on the field during the second inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Manny Machado (13) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run as Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker, left, pauses at first base during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Matt Bowman, center, rubs up a new baseball after giving up a two-run home run to San Diego Padres' Manny Machado, left, during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Manny Machado points to the sky as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, right, slides safely into second base with a double as San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, of South Korea, applies a late tag during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr., right, celebrates his two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks with Padres' Manny Machado (13) during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, May 3, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
